#116: Answered prayers

Really I mean when I realize a prayer has been answered.  Today I had one several of those moments:

Prayer #1:  To hike in the foothills more and learn some new-to-me trails.

Answer:  Today I hiked with a new friend on a new-to-me trail (I don't want to tell you where it was because it was so lovely)!

Prayer #2:  That I become willing to create my own happiness.

Answers:

• Last night I felt a little lonely and sorry for myself, but I turned off the TV after dinner [read: miracle!], went to the back room, and scrapbooked for 4 hours.  I felt a mild sense of panic as I realized that there were still so many things to clean, arrange, put away and sort (not that any of those would have happened if I had kept the TV on), but I said, screw it and worked anyways.  IT WAS AMAZING!!  I got 5 pages done, got myself to Belfast on my Ireland trip from last summer, lived through the panic and enjoyed every second of it.  I had no idea that the key to my own happiness is to do what is in my heart to do.  I must have missed that day of training before I was born, but let me tell you, it was a powerful, amazing lesson.  

• At one point today I suddenly found myself out of whack, you know what I mean?  Just bothered but not sure specifically at what.  Usually what I do when this happens is go to bed, take out my journal and write about myself and what I think is wrong for an hour.  Often I spend the next 2 or 3 days feeling dis-easy then by Friday I come out of it.  

I didn't do that today!  Instead I called a friend that I was sure had felt like this before, she answered, we talked for a half hour and voila,  I feel connected and at ease again.  It occurs to me that this is something I can do to create my own happiness: not get swept into icky feelings and instead, well, tell on myself.  30 minutes of discussion saved me 3 days of feeling uneasy and dissatisfied.

Prayer #3:  To find out what things I really love to do.

Answers:

• See #1.  I really enjoy hiking in the Boise foothills.  I could go for hours in the evening.

• Scrapbooking.  No more closet scrapbooking for me!  I have an entire room devoted to it.  The joy I felt last night was the joy I have been searching for everywhere outside myself.  

I finally found Joy.